The Last Run
by early-recoil
Summary: Blue eyes bright against the dirt and blood. Staring ahead and serious. Before she passed out…that had given her peace. Like laying in a freshly cut field under a baby blue sky. When life was clean, sacred and not about death.


**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. **

She didn't ask what they were supposed to do now. Instinctively she knew. Beth Green watched as more and more walkers pressed in on the glass. Her chest was rapidly rising and falling. Sweat was beading on her neck and forehead. Her whole body was shaking as she pressed her back into the cool dusty surface of the hard wood door.

They had finally let her go on a run. Despite Maggie telling her to stay in the food section, Beth had wondered around to look at other stuff. Before she knew it a group of walkers had separated her from the other three. The moment she'd walked around to the front, she'd had a bad feeling.

Beth felt her eyes prickle as tears finally started forming in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and tried the door again, screaming when once again, it wouldn't budge. It was a door you had to open from the other side. A trap. Her heart began to sink farther with every strike against the glass outside.

She wanted to scream for help but she didn't wanna lure the others….Maggie….into this. They'd never get to her in time. Maggie had Glenn to go home to. She deserved to live. So did Daryl and Michonne. So quietly Beth went still and watched the glass start to crack. She closed her eyes and looked around. She was going to die in some kind of office. Ravaged by walkers.

It felt like a 100 heartbeats when the glass broke. Her eyes watched as the first wave fell over onto spikes of glass. The second wave stumbled and fell. Beth sobbed and picked up the wooden chair and tossed it, barely knocking an advancing walker. The moaning, growling shuffling of feet deafened her.

When Beth backed into a tall wooden bookshelf, she started climbing. Because of her small frame and wisp weight, she made quick work of it before the walkers were trying to pull her legs down. She realized then how much she wanted to live. She wanted to see the prison again. She wanted to hug her daddy and sister. She wanted to sing to Judith. Hell! She wanted to fall in love! Not a crush, love. Love that makes you defy death even when its cold fingers are choking the air from you.

Then with all her new found ferocity, a shrill and deafening scream ripped its way from her mouth.

"HELP! IM IN HERE!" She waited a few moments, bracing herself against the ceiling …silently thanking whoever secured this bookshelf to the wall. "HELP!"

After an eternity someone pounded on the door.

"BETH?" A voice asked and she choked with gratitude.

"YEAH! HELP! Im okay…rooms full of walkers! IM TRAPPED!" Her voice was shaky as she replied and the walkers attention faltered when the other voice answered her.

"We're gonna filter em out, stay put!"

She nodded and felt her nails dig into the crust white Spackle of the ceiling. She heard the door swoosh open and voices calling out to the walkers. Beth seen the walkers avert and start walking away. When 8 or so walked out, the door shut and she whimpered. It felt like eternity when the room had finally cleared out and the three entered to kill the stragglers.

When it was over, Beth took good looks at her sister, Michonne and Daryl. All were soaked in walker blood and bits. Maggie's eyes found her and she started crying. The older sister boosted herself up on a chair and nearly fell with her in her arms. The embrace was intense and they both cried. Beth kept thanking God for not allowing her to give up. Same time she kept saying how sorry she was to Maggie and the other.

"Oh god I'm so stupid. I'm so sorry…" Her sister shushed her and kept holding her. After a bit, the sound of more walkers alerted them to the fact they needed to move on. They fell in rank and left out the window.

Beth was on auto pilot as Maggie went ahead, in maternal protector mode. The little blondes knees were about to give out as shock was starting to set in. But before her body could crumble, strong arms wrapped around her midsection and pulled her in. She gasped but relaxed when scratchy facial hair rubbed her neck.

"C'mon darlin', we gotta go." And with that Daryl picked her up bridal style and carried her the rest of the way. Beth looked up only for a moment, seeing his dirty face…taught with tension. But what caught her was his blue eyes bright against the dirt and blood. Staring ahead and serious. Before she passed out…that had given her peace. Like laying in a freshly cut field under a baby blue sky. When life was clean, sacred and not about death.

**This one is a short one, but it was just a passing thought. Please comment if you enjoyed it. **


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